Saturday, February 25, 2006

Hyperactive Danish Diplomacy

The Danish minister of Foreign Affairs Per Stig Moller has according to Jyllandsposten asked the Dutch government to dampen criticism of EU foreign affairs spokesman Javier Solana's line in - and way of handling - the cartoons crisis. The Dutch think Solana is too apologetic towards Muslim countries political leaders and governments. The Dutch parliament has asked foreign minister Bernhard Bot to repeat the criticism of Solana at the EU meeting of foreign ministers on Monday February 27th in Brussels. Following the phone call from Moller in Copenhagen, Bot will no longer present the criticism at the meeting.

Per Stig Moller thinks that the Dutch risk messing up the cartoons conflict and the Danish government's attempts at solving it.

The Danish government has been working hard at solving the conflict. It might, however, run the risk of getting led up the garden path by muslim leaders. The question of whether a formal apology is necessary, or it is not necessary, has been raised and debated back and forth so many times that the Danish government is making an ass of itself. It has become so eager to please that the total effect may only be ridicule and scorn.